Poliquin, known for bulking up hockey players and bobsledders, set two primary goals for Boston: reduce his insulin levels with a low-carb, high-protein diet and vitamin supplements, and raise his growth hormone levels with vigorous workouts to build muscle. There would be blood tests to monitor it all, and there would be 90-minute IV drips of magnesium and minerals to help his body recover. ("I lay there during these drips and listen to trance music, you know, ocean music," Boston says.) It was all done away from his teammates, which is why, when he showed up at Cardinals camp bigger and faster in 2001, the rumors about HGH started spreading.
"Blah, blah, blah," says Poliquin, who's based in Tempe, Ariz. "As a 25-year-old guy, David produces more growth hormone than he could buy in a store. An intense workout will boost your growth hormone nine times above normal levels. You'd have to shoot yourself up with a week's supply of HGH to equate one workout. People say he's on drugs. Food, if used properly, is a drug. So, yeah, he's on drugs. He buys 'em at Safeway."
Researchers agree that exercise increases growth hormone levels, but they say it's unlikely an athlete could gain 50 pounds of muscle through workouts, food and supplements alone. Boston didn't want to hear that. He told Poliquin he wanted a full-time trainer, someone to tell him what to eat and when to eat it. So Poliquin referred him to one of his colleagues, a former Canadian Olympic bobsledder named Ian Danney. Originally from Guyana, Danney is foremost a speed trainer. But he's also a former biochemistry major at the University of Alberta who, says Poliquin, is using biomechanics to advance his theories. Boston asked Danney to train him, and Danney agreed -- and walked right into the rumor mill.
Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
.
